Recruiting a community sample of African American subjects: The nuts and bolts of a successful effort

Recruiting a heterogeneous community sample of White and African American subjects for a research study is a challenging task. Researchers have frequently failed to recruit African Americans or to recruit racially balanced samples. This paper describes the experiences of one social work research team in recruiting a community sample of White and African American women. Specific strategies are presented as a primer for developing samples that are diverse and balanced sociodemographically. A recruitment model is proposed, including use of multiple strategies, simultaneous attention to each segment of the targeted population, and periodic midcourse correction. The results of our recruitment efforts suggest that attracting a sociodemographically balanced sample can be successful when appropriate strategies are implemented.